The number of influential and successful bands that emerged in the United Kingdom in the late ’60s is incredible. Two of them were Pink Floyd and Deep Purple, both of which would go on to become some of the best-selling groups of all time. A crucial part of Deep Purple’s sound was guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who created some of the most memorable Rock and Roll guitar riffs and solos in music history.
Back in the ’70s, Blackmore shared his thoughts on many bands from that era, including Pink Floyd.
What was Ritchie Blackmore’s opinion on Pink Floyd in the 70s
What might be a surprise to a lot of people who know Ritchie Blackmore’s sincerity and music taste, he actually liked Pink Floyd and praised the band a few times back in the 70s. Already in 1973, in an interview with Guitar Player magazine in 1973 the Deep Purple guitarist (At the time), mentioned them as a band that made music that he liked. He was asked why bands like Grand Funk Railroad would sell millions of records if there were bands doing the same kind of music or even better, who didn’t have the same success.
“Our main audience is about eighteen years old. People that age don’t really understand music that much. They’re trying to understand it, but if they were really that musically hip they wouldn’t even like us. They wouldn’t like Led Zeppelin. They’d be into someone like Yehudi Menuhin. America is so vast that I think people buy records mainly of groups they’ve seen. I imagine that they must have seen Grand Funk all over America, they buy their records.”
“At the same time though, I have never met one person who likes Grand Funk. On the other hand, there might be an increased interest in people like Pink Floyd. I really like some of Pink Floyd’s stuff. Groups like Curved Air might start coming into favor.”
He continued:
“Some of their music is bloody good-classical, with moogs and bombs going off. Some nights their music is a complete disaster, but other nights works. It’s chance music. Like some of the stuff I play,” Ritchie Blackmore said.
It was during that year that Pink Floyd released their most successful album “Dark Side of The Moon”. That record also became one of the best-selling albums of all time. It was the beginning of the golden era of the band which would then release: “Wish You Were Here” (1975), “Animals” (1977) and “The Wall” (1979).
The curious thing is that Deep Purple is not purely a Hard Rock band, they always had a Progressive Rock approach at some level in every record they made. Mainly due to Jon Lord‘s influence on keyboards. The first albums were quite Progressive but they ended up making their sound a little more closer to Hard Rock in 1970. Because it was when they released the successful album “Deep Purple In Rock”. Talking with Newsweek in 2017, Blackmore recalled that, after the interviewer mentioned that there weren’t really a psychedelic band like Pink Floyd.
“We didn’t really find our way, in my opinion, until we did ‘In Rock’. We seemed to have an idea where the hell we were going. I said to Jon Lord, ‘Let’s make a rock and roll record, completely hard rock. If that doesn’t sell we’ll go back to playing with orchestras (Deep Purple played with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on 1969’s Concerto for Group and Orchestra)’. I was a little bit tired of playing with an orchestra because it was very almost contrived. You’d have to play so quietly because the violinist was always complaining the lead guitar was too loud,” Ritchie Blackmore said.
Ritchie Blackmore and David Gilmour played in the same song
In 1988, many famous Rock stars got together to record a “Smoke on The Water” charity cover to help Armenia. The sales raised money to help those affected by the serious Armenian earthquake and had many stars in the studio. Besides Blackmore himself, the version of the song also had the Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour.
Besides them, were also part of the recording the singers Ian Gillan, Bruce Dickinson, Paul Rodgers and Bryan Adams. Other guitarists like Brian May, Tony Iommi and Alex Lifeson. The Yes bassist Chris Squire, the drummer Roger Taylor and keyboardists Geoff Downes and Keith Emerson.
